While I was on an extended Independence Day vacation, we had a chance to take a day trip to Niagara Falls. Rochestarians are fortunate to have such a great place only about an hour away. In a day you can see the American side and the Canadian side and experience some of the tourist attractions. Here is a great aerial view of the falls provided to us by Kenny Scruggs at Midwest Aerial Photography using Kodak's Aerial Films that shows the vast beauty that is there.

A few summers back, we went up and visited the Botanical Gardens there and snapped my all-time favorite photo that I use as my PC wallpaper.

For this trip, I brought my V705 and we parked on the American side since it is easier to cross to Canada by foot verses by car. The first stop was Goat Island, which is part of Niagara Falls State Park. This spot is where you can overlook all of the great attractions including:

Cave of the Winds where you walk along the base of Bridal Vail Falls on wooden steps and are able to feel the power of the falls on the deck. A side note - if the sun is shining, there is always a rainbow!

Maid of the Mist Boat Tour where your don a great blue poncho and head straight into the power of the falls. This tour is available on both sides of the falls and operates much the same.

Once we walked the length of the observation deck, we began the short hike over to the Canadian side of the falls. If you walk, you just go through a turnstile and show your identification when you reach the Canadian side of the bridge. In the U.S., you still only need a photo ID to enter Canada, but before the end of the year U.S. Citizens will need a U.S. Passport to return to the U.S.

Once we reached the Canadian side, we passed a few picturesque gardens and then headed for the observation areas, which span a great distance around the falls and contain shopping and eating areas.

By the end of the day, we were all exhausted and headed home. There are many amazing sites and photo opportunities at Niagara Falls both in Canada and in the US. Here in the Western New York area, we are lucky to have such a world wonder available to us to visit as often as we like.

Comments